Growth
by cchampagnekisses
Summary: People change people. Old Maya and Texas Lucas are gone.


_**So this is super short and super trashy but I've binged on GMW again and needed to get it out of my system.**_

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Maya laid comfortably in her bed with one hand resting behind her head and the other absentmindedly playing with the drawstring on her pajamas. Lucas sat just by the foot of the bed, lazily strumming her guitar. She supposed she should care that the guy she sorta kinda maybe possibly had a thing for was here spending time with her alone for a change.

When he called her nearly an hour ago sounding so clearly distraught she hadn't hesitated to say yes when he asked if he could drop by to talk. But so far, since he'd graced her boring regular window with his presence and climbed through nearly a half hour ago, he hadn't said a thing. He'd greeted her of course, given her a hug and a breathless thank you. But aside from that they'd just made themselves comfortable. She'd started sketching in her draft book but couldn't quite get any of her lines right. Just as she was about to give it another go Lucas finally spoke up.

"Maya—" he hesitated, pressing his lips together tightly as though he wanted to carefully consider what he wanted to say, or perhaps how to say it. She sat up and eased herself next to him. He looked down at her with his brow creased but she gave him a little nod, as if to tell him it was okay. Whatever was on his mind, whatever he wanted to say, needed to say, was ok. "Do you ever feel…I mean, no. What I mean to say is before you…when…"

"A little tongue tied there, cowboy?" Lucas' brows knit tighter and he pressed his lips together again.

"What I mean to say is…do you ever feel yourself slipping back into bad habits? Like, okay, remember detention? Without Riley you were an absolute hellion. Do you ever feel like that even when you've got her there?"

Maya looked stunning as always, but there was something about her now, hair tied up in a ponytail and baggy sweats just barely clinging to her petite frame, that got him. Lucas' heart beat faster than Tombstone the Bull and his nerves were rattled as he waited for her reply. Was he just being insane? Would she even understand what he was talking about? He shook off the thought and mentally scolded himself. If anyone understood it'd be Maya.

"I…truthfully? Sometimes." She looked at him tentatively, hoping he hadn't been looking for a different answer. But to her relief he seemed to be soothed.

"People change people. You guys have changed me. I swear it! But sometimes I just—"

"Can't help it." He looked at her then, held smile on his face as he exhaled bluntly. He chuckled, a deep rumbling sound from the depths of his chest, and nodded. "Riley's been good for me, it's true. And even when she isn't there I've developed the skills to know that…I shouldn't do certain things whether she's there or not. No matter how good it feels. But—"

"You can't help but be tempted." Maya bit her lip and it was her turn to nod.

"Personally I think the key is to just take a deep breath and think about whether or not you'd be able to look back on it without regret. Say I want to do something bad. No matter how fun it'd be or how good it'd in the moment feel I'd regret it. Because I've grown as a person. And so have you."

"Yeah but no matter how much we grow Old Maya and Texas Lucas will always be a part of who we are." Lucas' voice broke at the end and it sliced straight through Maya's heart to hear it. She cut him a look so serious that he could practically see fire in her eyes.

 _"Were,"_ she corrected him sharply. "Who we _were,_ Lucas. Who we were then is different from who we are now, and while it'll always be a part of us, so will what we've learned together. And what we've learned is how to be better people."

Lucas didn't say anything then. He just sat there and absorbed her words without breaking her gaze. Maya hoped she'd struck home with what she said. She didn't know what brought this on and honestly she didn't really care. All she cared about was that Lucas didn't feel upset over it. All that mattered to her was Lucas fully grasping that whoever he was before, whatever he'd done that was so bad, didn't matter. All that mattered was that he was Lucas the Good now. He was their shoulder to lean on, the friend they could always count on for his loyalty and understanding and kindness or even just a smile when they needed it.

Seemingly out of nowhere he hugged her. He just reached over and pulled her into the second tightest embrace she'd ever experienced. She assumed it meant thank you, so she slipped her arms around him to say you're welcome. When they let go of one another she didn't quite know what to do, but Lucas made himself comfortable and leaned his head against her shoulder.

"If I tell you about Texas Lucas…can you promise me you won't look at me differently."

"Nothing could ever make me look at you differently, Lucas," she said softly, but her tone was firm. "You're great."


End file.
